The desirability of creating art images on a person's fingernails and toenails is widely recognized and practiced. Known techniques include transfers, decals, appliques and hand painting. Recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,277,205; 5,302,224; and 5,316,026 have been granted regarding novel techniques for creating images on nails using hand operated apparatus. Although the new technology works well in principle, there remains a need to further develop the technology in order to advance it to the point where complex multicolor images can be created consistently and repeatably with excellent registration and detail. Also, there remains a need to improve and engineer the known apparatus to enable manufacture both efficiently and economically. Especially there remains a need to develop an effective method and apparatus that will perform with high accuracy and which will be inexpensive.
Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for effectively creating art on the nail of a person's digit or on an object, such as, a golf ball, and to do so to accomplish the noted purposes. To this end, the invention provides a unique hand-operated apparatus that can be manufactured efficiently and readily substantially entirely out of plastic, and that will be of rugged construction and will function effectively, smoothly and repeatably. The apparatus is substantially less costly to make than apparatus hereto proposed.
Accordingly, the present invention achieves the principal object of the invention by a method for applying an art image on a person's nail or an object, such as, a golf ball that comprises the steps of establishing a reference point, positioning a person's digit or the object in a specially configured block, located relative to the reference point, at a first preselected location, creating an image composed of an image defining coating material at a location remote from the first preselected location, picking up the created image from an engraved plate at said remote location by a transfer assembly including an operating pin, transferring the picked up image to the person's nail or the object at said first preselected location, and depositing the picked up image onto the person's nail or object at a position on the nail or object correlated with the reference point by manipulation of the operating pin.
In the method, the picked up image is preferably transferred by a linear motion, but includes the transfer by rotary motion or other non-linear motion. Also, the depositing of the picked up image is preferably effected by a linear motion. Further, the transfer of the picked up image may be effected with guiding. The step of creating the image may include the steps of depositing coating material onto the plate and doctoring excess coating material in the creation of the image. The method steps can be repeated a multiple of times with repositioning of the plate between successive times. The method can further include a step of positively stopping the picked up created image in proper orientation to the person's nail or object during transfer, and the positioning of the nail or object can be adjustable. The method can be carried out to create a multi-color image.
The present invention additionally contemplates a hand operated self-contained, plastic apparatus for applying an image on a person's nail or an object, such as, a golf ball comprising a frame for establishing a reference point, a member which is preferably a unique wheel or turntable mounted on the frame that can be positioned successively in a plurality of positions, an image creating plate received in said wheel for creating thereon an image composed of an image defining coating material, a digit or object positioning member having a recess for receiving and positioning a person's digit or an object relative to the location of the created image, an adjusting device for locating the person's digit or the object in an appropriate orientation relative to the reference point, and a transfer assembly including an operating pin mounted on the frame movable for transferring the created image from the image creating plate to the person's nail or the object.
The apparatus may further be characterized in that the transfer assembly includes a squeegee for removing excess coating material from an image and a pick up pad for picking up a created image. The apparatus can further include guide elements some of which are on the wheel to guide the transfer assembly during movement, and the guiding can be by a singular linear guide path. In the apparatus, the squeegee and the pick up pad may be mounted in common, with the pad and squeegee each mounted for vertical movement. The apparatus may further comprise an adjustable member serving to index the nail or object relative to the reference point. Also, the apparatus may have a digit positioning member spring biased upwardly in a digit holding block.